Comments
Farmers organisations from Punjab have decided to hold discussions with other outfits on Wednesday to take a final decision on the Union Agriculture Ministry inviting them for talks. Meanwhile, they have decided to step up the agitations and more people will reach the borders of Delhi between Wednesday and December 28.
Leader of the movement Kulwant Singh Sandhu told reporters at Singhu border on Tuesday that several State governments were ready to act against the Centre’s three farm laws, which the farmers demand to be repealed. But the Centre is not ready to listen to them. He reiterated that the beneficiaries of farm laws are big corporate houses. He said more people from Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra will reach the borders to join the protests.
Sandhu added that they will meet leaders of all 39 organisations before taking a collective decision on the Centre’s offer.
‘Centre misguiding’
He charged that the Centre is trying to hoodwink people by organising discussions with fake organisations. “They have not invited even Bharatya Kisan Sangh, the outfit of RSS. It had demanded that MSP should be made legal,” he said. But the Centre has turned a blind eye towards the plight of farmers who are protesting on the streets even during the severe winter. He maintained that the three farm laws are on State subjects and the Centre should repeal them at the earliest.
Role model
The leaders have also given a call for skipping the lunch on Wednesday, the birthday of former Prime Minister and farmers’ leader Charan Singh.
“Charan Singh was ready to question the Congress’s stand on several agriculture related issues. He challenged even Jawaharlal Nehru. Many BJP MPs have claimed that agriculture is their vocation. If they are committed to their work, they must show the courage of Charan Singh and question their leaders,” said Jitender Hudda, a farmers’ leader from Shamli, Western Uttar Pradesh.
AITUC said its unions will observe “Skip Lunch Day” to express solidarity with the relay hunger strike by the joint front of Kisan organisations. “The Centre, including the Prime Minister, is resorting to downright falsehoods to malign the farmers’ struggle, all for the benefit of their corporate masters,” accused AITUC general secretary Amarjeet Kaur.
Leaders of various mass organisations also pledged support to Wednesday’s protests.
“They will organise “Boycott Ambani-Adani Corporate products and Services” campaign and appeal to the people to avoid their products and services such as Jio mobile service, Fortune food products and Reliance petrol pumps on December 26 and 27. Large scale campaigns will be undertaken with demonstrations, poster exhibitions, rallies and jathas, public meetings, social media campaign in villages and towns,” a statement from the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee said.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.